Key takeaways
Map business interests before adding the family assets
Family control over an entity does not mean every asset it holds is personally owned, and loans between owners and companies can otherwise be counted twice. Ask lawyers to identify the relevant interests, then request a linked schedule showing what the business valuation includes and what appears separately.
Keep family property valuations separate from tax questions
A business valuation for a family property matter does not automatically answer the tax questions arising from a later transfer or sale. Ask your lawyers and accountant to specify any tax scenario, rather than deducting a possible future tax bill without instructions about its relevance to the matter.
Check family benefits against the actual business records
Private spending, family wages and use of business assets can affect reported profit, but each payment needs evidence before it is adjusted. Provide ledgers and invoices, then ask the valuer to distinguish necessary business costs from personal benefits without treating an earnings adjustment as proof that someone owes money.
Distinguish personal earning power from transferable business value
An owner professional may earn strongly through personal effort without creating equivalent goodwill, meaning business value from advantages such as transferable client relationships, staff and systems. Ask the valuer to examine replacement costs and customer retention so the assessment does not simply turn expected future personal work into an asset.
Ask precise valuation questions without creating an expert appointment
Identify the document, calculation or assumption that needs explaining and follow transparent communication arrangements agreed with the parties and lawyers. IBV’s family law work is advisory: it does not include expert-witness or court-appointed engagements, decide settlement shares or guarantee acceptance in proceedings.
Establish the appointment and purpose
A family law valuation for settlement discussions begins with your lawyers identifying the business interests, date, basis and intended users. Parties may jointly commission advisory valuation work with transparent information and communication arrangements. IBV does not accept expert-witness or court-appointed valuation engagements, including single-expert appointments for proceedings. If formal expert evidence is required, your lawyer must arrange a separate appropriately appointed valuer.
Create a reliable information process
Provide entity structures, accounts, ownership documents, loan balances and information about related-party dealings. Agree how requests, responses and communications will be handled, especially where access to records differs between parties. Allegations or disputed facts should be identified as such, and the valuer should not be expected to resolve legal ownership questions through financial analysis alone.
Examine owner involvement and earnings
Owner remuneration, personal expenses, related-party rent and dependence on an individual can affect the assessment. Analysis needs to distinguish transferable business earnings from benefits requiring continued personal work. Assumptions should be explained rather than selected to favour a party, and any alternative scenarios should follow the agreed instructions and available evidence rather than informal advocacy.
Signed
A clear valuation conclusion starts with an agreed purpose, relevant evidence and disclosed assumptions. The report identifies the interest valued and explains the reasoning behind its conclusion.
Report the interest and reasoning
The proposed report records the subject interest, valuation date, evidence and methods, including material adjustments and limitations. It should explain how business value connects to ownership value and identify loans or other balances treated separately. This helps lawyers understand what the conclusion includes, without conflating the valuation with a decision about the overall property pool or its allocation.
Keep legal outcomes outside scope
The valuation does not determine entitlements, settlement proportions or how a court will treat the evidence. Applicable expert rules and any attendance requirements must be confirmed by the instructing lawyer. If proceedings require a formal expert engagement, IBV™ does not act as a court-appointed or expert witness valuer, so confirm with the instructing lawyer whether a separate expert will be required.
Create an entity by entity asset pool map
Prepare a schedule linking each business entity to the interests, loans and other assets identified by the parties' lawyers. Include trading companies, holding entities and associated trusts, but avoid treating every asset controlled by a family member as personally owned property. Legal advisers determine the relevant ownership and treatment; the valuer explains the economic interests specified in the instruction.
Give each item a unique reference and state whether it is included in the business conclusion or shown separately. For example, a shareholder loan receivable listed outside the company interest needs corresponding treatment within the company's liabilities. This simple cross reference helps prevent the asset pool schedule from counting a family loan once as an asset and again within an unreduced company value.
Distinguish asset pool evidence from a tax valuation
A family law instruction supports an assessment of identified business interests for the property matter. It is not automatically a market valuation for a CGT event, an internal restructure or a proposed transfer. Those questions can involve different dates, subjects and assumptions. The ATO's market valuation guide is a separate reference for tax related valuation work, not a substitute for the family law instruction. 1
Ask the lawyers and accountant to identify any tax assumptions they want modelled, including whether a disposal is contemplated or merely hypothetical. Do not deduct an estimated tax liability simply because a business might eventually be sold. The valuer can quantify an instructed scenario; advisers and the court determine its legal and tax relevance to the property matter.
Analyse household benefits without duplicating adjustments
Identify private expenditure paid through the business, family wages and noncommercial asset use. Obtain supporting ledgers and invoices before treating an item as a recurring economic benefit. A payment can be a genuine business cost, a mixed expense or a personal benefit. The classification should follow evidence and stated assumptions rather than which party currently receives it.
Then check how each item affects both earnings and balance sheet accounts. Adding back a private expense to maintainable profit does not establish that the same amount is separately recoverable from a spouse or director. Likewise, replacing family wages with market remuneration should reflect work actually needed by the business. These checks help keep business valuation adjustments separate from allegations about past spending or future support obligations.
Separate future labour from transferable business returns
For an owner operated practice, identify which income depends on the individual's continuing professional work and which arises from systems, staff, contracts or other transferable advantages. Review client retention, employment arrangements and the cost of replacing management. A strong recent personal income stream does not by itself prove equivalent goodwill that another operator could acquire.
Where evidence supports more than one reasonable continuity assumption, explain the practical difference through transparent scenarios. Do not disguise the uncertainty inside an unexplained multiple. The analysis should show the business interest being valued, not convert a spouse's anticipated future effort into an asset without examining the source and transferability of those returns.
Make clarification questions analytically useful
Questions after a report should identify a particular assumption, document or calculation. For example, ask how an intercompany loan was reconciled or which responsibilities informed replacement remuneration. A request to reach a preferred settlement figure is not a valuation clarification. Maintain a shared record of substantive information supplied through the authorised communication process.
Part 7.1 of the Family Law Rules addresses expert evidence, including single expert processes; the instructing lawyer should confirm applicable requirements and orders. 2 The report supplies financial evidence for the matter. It does not determine contributions, future circumstances, settlement percentages or the treatment of contested property, and its existence does not guarantee acceptance by the court.
Scope, fees and timing
See our fixed-fee valuation packages and confirm the scope and fee before commissioning work. Confirm the purpose, intended users, information requirements and inclusions in a written engagement before work begins. Calculated Value and Limited Scope delivery is 5–7 business days from complete financial information and a signed engagement. Full Conclusion timing is confirmed individually in the engagement letter. Specialist requirements or changes to the instruction may affect suitability and timing; confirm these before relying on an external deadline.
Sources and further reading
Frequently asked questions
Can we jointly commission an IBV valuation for settlement discussions?
Yes, joint advisory instructions can be discussed when the parties agree the interests, valuation date, information access and communication arrangements. This is not a single-expert appointment for proceedings. IBV does not accept expert-witness or court-appointed valuations. Your lawyers must confirm whether advisory work suits the purpose or whether a separate formal expert is required.
My former partner controls the accounts. Can the valuation still proceed?
Explain what information is available and what is missing before the engagement is accepted. A report needs adequate evidence, and material gaps must be disclosed rather than replaced with unsupported assumptions. Your lawyer should address disclosure and access issues so the valuer is not asked to resolve legal rights to company information.
Source: Federal Court — Expert Evidence Practice Note (GPN-EXPT)
Will you value the whole family group or just my former partner’s shares?
The scope must identify the actual interests requiring assessment, including any companies, trusts and related loans. Understanding the wider group may be necessary even where only one holding is valued. Your lawyers should clarify ownership and the property question; the valuation does not decide which assets belong in the settlement pool.
The business pays family wages and private expenses. Will you adjust them?
We examine the records, the work performed and the basis for each proposed adjustment to earnings. Family payments are not automatically unnecessary expenses, and private items need evidence. Where the parties dispute the facts, the instruction may need explicit assumptions or alternative scenarios rather than accepting one spouse’s list without testing.
Does valuing the business mean its future profits are guaranteed?
No. An earnings-based valuation considers expected benefits and the risks supporting them; it does not guarantee future income. We examine dependence on owners, customer concentration and operating conditions. Your lawyer should advise how business value and income are treated in the property and support issues, rather than infer legal outcomes from the report.
Can you use our separation date instead of today?
Your lawyers should confirm the valuation date required for the settlement or proceedings. We should not choose separation date simply because it is important personally. If a historical date is instructed, contemporary records are needed, and the report must distinguish information available then from subsequent trading changes or hindsight.
How should we communicate concerns to a jointly commissioned valuer?
Follow the communication arrangements agreed with both parties and their lawyers. Provide material records and instructions transparently, with a dated explanation of any disputed facts. A concern about income or accounts should identify evidence and a specific valuation question, not ask IBV to advocate for one party. IBV’s work remains advisory, not an expert-witness appointment.
What if we disagree with the valuation conclusion?
Identify the document, assumption or calculation you believe needs clarification and raise it through the agreed process. A factual correction may justify revisiting the analysis; a preferred settlement figure does not. Your lawyer advises how the valuation can be used in negotiations and whether formal expert evidence is required. IBV does not provide expert-witness valuations.
Can IBV attend an experts’ conference or give expert testimony?
No. IBV does not accept expert-witness or court-appointed valuation engagements and does not participate in court-directed experts’ conferences as an appointed expert. We provide advisory family law valuations for the agreed settlement purpose. If proceedings require expert evidence, your lawyer must arrange a separate appropriately appointed valuer.
Will your valuation decide how much of the business my spouse receives?
No. A valuation provides evidence of the specified business interest at the agreed date; it does not decide entitlements, contributions or the final property orders. Your lawyer handles those issues. Court use also depends on the applicable evidence requirements, so no particular settlement, admissibility decision or judicial acceptance is guaranteed.
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WHAT YOU GET IN A LIMITED SCOPE VALUATION REPORT
Inside your IBV™ report
Executive Summary
Conclusion of value · Method selected · Valuer qualifications
Detailed Report
Maintainable earnings · Cap rate / multiple · Premise of value
The Evidence Pack
SWOT analysis · Top Performers Report · RAVDA score
APES 225 voluntarily aligned. Report depth and supporting analysis follow your agreed package and engagement scope.
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